My wife and I were discussing an advertisement that we were going to place until we found out some details that made us pull out. Our decision revolved around what someone had done that indicated she was punching above her weight in her job. She was in online sales and in charge of people who were better at their jobs that she was – they could probably do her job better than she did.

We said one of the hallmarks that showed she punching above her weight was that she did not take time to reflect on what she did not know and to admit what she did not know.

Instead, she just wanted to make it seem like she always knew everything.

This delayed her learning curve.

The problem was that what she did not know spilled over into what she could not know.

Because there were big gaps in what she knew, she did not know how to distinguish between what she did not know and what she has no reason to think she should know.

So she pretended she knew – and then events revealed that she had pretended to know something she could not have known.

In this particular case she said that such and such was what normally happened when in fact it transpired that there was no ‘normally’ because this was the first time such and such had arisen. When that came out she had egg on her face. Did she admit anything? No, she just skipped on by. One day she will skip into a chasm out which she cannot skip.

She could have managed the problem so much more easily by simply saying that this was a new situation and …. etc.

Punching Above Her Weight is a post from: No More Pencils

A Quick Test Post For WP-To-Twitter Using Developer-Twitter

A Quick Test Post For WP-To-Twitter Using Developer-Twitter is a post from: No More Pencils

All the mistakes we make; all the things we do that are screwed up – all of them sit on a knife edge between being perfect just as they are, or a mess that we have to face up to and live with. But whichever way it is, don’t judge yourself too harshly.

All The Mistakes We Make is a post from: No More Pencils

The news of the government’s desire to sell off Britain’s nature reserves to their conservative cronies [as reported in the Guardian on Friday the 13th August]  should be the final straw for a coalition that has revealed its teeth and its true intentions.

From the Guardian article:

Some of the most beautiful areas of Britain could be sold off and wildlife and countryside protection measures cut to the bone to meet expected 40% cuts in the budget of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, it emerged.

Among the plans being considered by the government, which once declared itself “the greenest ever”, are selling off national nature reserves; privatising parts of the Forestry Commission; privatising the Met Office, one of the world’s leading research organisations on climate change; and withdrawing grants to British Waterways, which manages 2,200 miles of canals and rivers.

I doubt there are very many who voted Liberal Democrat at the last election who would vote the same again. I think there are many who switched votes from Labour to Conservative at the last election who would switch back.

Chances are good that Labour would win if an election were called tomorrow.

So pray for a vote of no confidence in this government.

If A General Election Was Called Tomorrow is a post from: No More Pencils

When one has one’s neck inside the marmalade jar, it is easy to forget that there is a world outside of marmalade.

The Metaphysical Marmalade Jar is a post from: No More Pencils